The present invention relates to a purchase request system for requesting purchase of articles.
Conventionally, companies and business offices purchase various articles necessary for daily business operations from external suppliers.
There are a variety of articles to be purchased. However, for example, purchases of articles such as stationery, for which purchase requests are issued in units of sections, are generally made according to the following procedure and get behind in office automation and paperless transactions.
A general clerk or the like issues a purchase slip for specifying a desired article. Next, a manager approves the issued slip by, e.g., sealing (signature). The approved slip is handed over to the procurement department. The procurement department puts a plurality of orders into a lot as needed, newly issues a purchase order slip, and sends it to an external supplier. With this procedure, the desired articles are delivered.
For this reason, demand has also arisen for paperless transactions for purchase of a variety of articles. A relatively large business office already has an existing terminal group generally connected to a communication network. Effective use of the terminal group is required from the viewpoint of utilization of assets of the company.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a purchase request system capable of abolishing the conventional business procedures including preparation, issue, and transfer of physical purchase slips and efficiently purchasing a variety of articles using an existing terminal group.
In order to achieve the above object, a purchase request system according to the present invention has the following arrangement.
There is provided a purchase request system including a plurality of terminals capable of requesting purchase of a desired article, characterized by comprising input means for inputting identification information of a user, determination means for determining the identification information input by the input means on the basis of information associated with the user, which is prepared in advance, and display means for selecting, on the basis of a determination result of the determination means, one of a first window capable of inputting a purchase request of the desired article and a second window capable of inputting at least approval or rejection for the purchase request and displaying the selected window.
For example, a user who can decide approval or rejection is identifiably associated, on the basis of the identification information of the user, with the information associated with the user, and when the determination means determines that the input identification information represents the user who can decide approval or rejection, the display means displays the second window.
In order to achieve the above object, another purchase request system according to the present invention has the following arrangement.
There is provided a purchase request system including a plurality of terminals capable of requesting purchase of a desired article, characterized by comprising a terminal capable of inputting information associated with a desired article to request purchase of the article, and communication means for transmitting electronic mail to a user who can decide approval or rejection for purchase of the article in accordance with determination of the input information associated with the article in the terminal.
There is also provided a purchase request system including a plurality of terminals capable of requesting purchase of a desired article, characterized by comprising a terminal capable of inputting approval or rejection for a purchase request of the desired article, and communication means for transmitting electronic mail to a user who has requested purchase of the article in accordance with determination of approval or rejection for purchase of the article in the terminal.
There is also provided a purchase request system including a plurality of terminals capable of requesting purchase of a desired article, characterized by comprising display means for displaying, on the terminal, a software button for opening a first window capable of inputting a purchase request of the desired article and a software button for opening a second window capable of inputting request quantities of a plurality of kinds of articles for which purchase requests are input in the first window.
Other features and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like reference characters designate the same or similar parts throughout the figures thereof.